College profile
Chapman University
CA · Private nonprofit · Mid-size city · 15,914 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- Top feeder high schools: Orange County School of the Arts (15), Punahou School (12.2), Santa Margarita Catholic High School (10), Mountain View High School (7), Palo Alto Senior High School (5). Graduates per class year, from each high school's own published list. 108 high schools' lists name Chapman University; every one is ranked below.
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $112,780 four years out; music grads about $41,698 — a 2.7× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- The 4× payoff headline requires aid. Without aid this runs ~$83,146/yr. There's no income cutoff for need-based aid — whether you qualify depends on the gap between a school's price and your family's finances, so at a price like this even six-figure incomes often show need. Families who receive aid average ~$46,555/yr — against that, ten years of median earnings run ~4× the cost. Run the college's own net-price calculator before anchoring on the multiple.
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to Chapman University?
The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Chapman University, from each school's own published list: Orange County School of the Arts (15), Punahou School (12.2), Santa Margarita Catholic High School (10), Mountain View High School (7), Palo Alto Senior High School (5). 108 high schools' lists name Chapman University.
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
All 108 schools, with the class years each list covers
Published, but not ranked — these schools name Chapman University on a list of where their graduates enrolled whose class years we cannot read ("Since 2023", or no class year printed), so their totals are shown rather than divided: Yorba Linda High School (3, not stated).
How this is counted
108 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Chapman University on it. Between them they printed 432 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Chapman University, from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
Is my high school on this list?
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
All 18 schools, with the class years each list covers
How this is counted
18 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Chapman University on it. Between them they printed 229 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Chapman University, from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 122 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
Parent/student verdict
Moderately selectiveSolid match for academically prepared students. Expect a high net price across most income brackets.
Best for
- Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
- Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)
- Research-curious students (R2 — active research output)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1250, or ACT below 28, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
- High cost — full price is ~$83,146/yr without aid, and aid-receiving families still average ~$46,555/yr — verify the major's earnings track record before committing
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
16% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 8% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What Chapman University actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Chapman University's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$368K ahead at full price +$514K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at Chapman University
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Chapman University actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Chapman University's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer Science. | $112,780 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | $102,147 |
| Business/Managerial Economics. | $84,978 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | $84,378 |
| Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication. | $80,139 |
| Journalism. | $79,135 |
| Design and Applied Arts. | $78,121 |
| Business/Corporate Communications. | $76,412 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | $75,108 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | $73,461 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Student body & economic mobility
Who attends here — and what the campus adds.
Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
AI program signal
AI + computing education at Chapman University
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
Alternatives to Chapman University
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on Chapman University?
Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for Chapman University and every other college on your list.
Get your child's odds at Chapman University →Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid
Related reading
Majors and pay · October 2026
Majors and pay · October 2026
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantChapman University is a private nonprofit four-year college in CA. It admitted 56% of applicants (15,914 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1250–1430, ACT 28–32. 16% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 8% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Cost: about $46,555 a year on average with aid, $83,146 a year at full price.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $70,070 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $514,480 ahead with aid, $368,116 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer Science ($112,780); Accounting and Related Services ($102,147); Business/Managerial Economics ($84,978).
Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 5% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 32% of those reached the top fifth as adults.
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Chapman University: 108, 432 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Orange County School of the Arts (15.0 per class year, 15 over 1 class year, Class of 2026); Punahou School (12.2 per class year, 49 over 4 class years, over the last four years: 2026, 2025, 2024, and 2023); Santa Margarita Catholic High School (10.0 per class year, 10 over 1 class year, Class of 2025). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/chapman-university.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Chapman University: 18, 229 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often Archbishop Mitty High School (68.0 per class year, 68 over 1 class year, Class of 2026); Chaminade College Preparatory (30.0 per class year, 30 over 1 class year, Class of 2026); Yorba Linda High School (29.0 per class year, 29 over 1 class year, Class of 2026, counted column "STUDENTS ACCEPTED"). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/chapman-university.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/chapman-university.json
Questions families ask
What is Chapman University's acceptance rate? Chapman University is a private nonprofit four-year college in CA. It admitted 56% of applicants (15,914 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Does Chapman University require the SAT or ACT? Chapman University is a private nonprofit four-year college in CA. It admitted 56% of applicants (15,914 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
What SAT or ACT scores do Chapman University students have? Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1250–1430, ACT 28–32. 16% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 8% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
How much does Chapman University cost? Cost: about $46,555 a year on average with aid, $83,146 a year at full price.
What do Chapman University graduates earn? Median earnings ten years after entry: $70,070 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $514,480 ahead with aid, $368,116 ahead at full price.
Which majors at Chapman University pay the most? Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer Science ($112,780); Accounting and Related Services ($102,147); Business/Managerial Economics ($84,978).
Which high schools send the most graduates to Chapman University? The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Chapman University, from each school's own published list: Orange County School of the Arts (15), Punahou School (12.2), Santa Margarita Catholic High School (10), Mountain View High School (7), Palo Alto Senior High School (5). 108 high schools' lists name Chapman University.
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Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.